Blog

AAI staff and Spring 2019 interns participated in a rally at the Supreme Court on the day of oral arguments in the case. On June 17, 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed the case Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, in which the Virginia House of Delegates tried to appeal a lower court...

In 2020, for the first time ever, the US Census will allow for online responses. This will be accompanied by an increase in official Census Bureau advertisements, particularly online, including social media. However, Census officials are anticipating targeted campaigns on social media designed to spread disinformation about the decennial census,...

On Saturday, June 15th, the Arab American Institute and the Washington D.C chapter of the Network of Arab American Professionals (NAAP-DC) partnered to lead a service project for 15th annual National Arab American Service Day. Volunteers participated in a tree planting at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in northeast D.C with Casey Trees,...

Among the many lessons Nadia Aziz learned in law school, one continues to resonate: “If you’re going to write something, write it as if you are writing with a scalpel.” Aziz, who currently serves as the Co-Interim Director and Policy Council at the Stop Hate Project of the Lawyers’ Committee...

No discussion of the American political process today is complete without a mention of fake news, junk news, or – most broadly – disinformation. Disinformation is defined as false information that is spread with the intent for it to deceive or harm, often occurring alongside misinformation, which is false information...

Last month, Texas passed a new anti-boycott law after the 2017 version was blocked from enforcement in federal court for its unconstitutional provisions. The Arab American Institute has seen this before: in March, we testified against a revamped anti-boycott bill in Arizona after a federal court blocked the original 2016...

If you made it out to the first Arab Fest in Jacksonville on Saturday, June 9th, then you know just how spectacular it was! This event, the first of its kind in Jacksonville hosted by the new chapter of the Arab American Community Center, was a truly beautiful representation of the...

On June 11, 2019 AAI co-sponsored a panel discussion called, "The Deal of the Century: What About Palestinian Citizens of Israel?" with the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and the Mossawa Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for Arab citizens and residents of Israel. AAI Executive Director Maya...

On Friday, June 7, 2019, AAI interns sat down with AAI President and Co-Founder Dr. James Zogby for the first brown bag lunch of the summer. His talk gave us insight on the treatment of Arab Americans 50 years ago, the advancements made in community activism during that period, and the work still needed to be done. ...

A series of congressional hearings conducted in recent weeks focused on the federal government’s approach to counterterrorism, specifically when it comes to investigating and prosecuting acts that fall within the federal definition of “domestic terrorism.” Most of these hearings have touched on the threat of white supremacist violence and the...